Mother and Father
by Eddie-Hawke
Summary: Benezia and Aethyta had a daughter, and their family fell apart. A OneShot about the day Liara's parents split up and parted ways. Rated T for a rare use of language.


**I don't own anything to do with the Mass Effect series.**

**I'm sorry that this doesn't coincide with some of the things mentioned in the series. I... Guess it's** **just how it ended up.**

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><p>She came home, but there was nothing to that. No asking how her day was, or watching her rush through the door with a blood boiling story to tell. Aethyta always laughed when she thought of the times Benezia would throw the door open without laying a hand on the doorknob, walking into their home and ranting about why the Matriarch's were wrong and which diplomat said what that really irked her to no end. Aethyta would just stand there, steely eyed, and always express why she didn't just tell them she was so damn frustrated. That would always calm her down. She would always remember why what she was fighting for, then.<p>

"Hey." Aethyta pushed out after watching Benezia walk in the room without so much as a passing glance.

"Aethyta." She greeted, and sighed, as if trying to throw off whatever stress she carried on her shoulders.

"Take a load off." Aethyta replied, knowing that movement well enough to see what she was trying to leave on the doorstep. Just the weight of the future of their species, she would often reply, followed by a laugh. But nothing came from Benezia. Just a piercing glare over her shoulder. "Guess not." She muttered underneath her breath, turning away.

"Where is Liara?" She asked. Aethyta's eyes narrowed on the Matriarch; even as she spoke, she wouldn't look at her.

"Asleep." She nearly spat the word.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I put her there."

"You should keep a closer eye on her." Benezia practically ordered, walking off down the hallway.

"You don't think I know how to look after my own damn kid?" She called, turning on a heel to follow her. "Unbunch, Nezzy. After this long, I know what I'm damn well doing." Benezia turned quickly, and Aethyta barely had the time to stop in her tracks. Luckily she managed, for fear of running into Benezia and throwing herself further down the warpath.

"Please! Don't call me that." The walls could shatter with her strength. They stood, motionless in the hallway; Thessia's skyline through the window painted Aethyta's glare red. "I'm sorry." Benezia whispered, her hand gently reaching over towards her love. Her eyes pleaded contact, but Aethyta turned her simmering glance away.

"It's fine." Aethyta moved a foot out, attempting to bypass Benezia all together.

"No, I-" She stepped forward, blocking her path. Aethyta's hand rested on her shoulder, applying light pressure to deter her from her movements. She moved past her love with ease.

"I need to check on the kid." Aethyta said, moving with hasty steps. Benezia stood, alone in hallway, staring at the empty space before her eyes.

Aethyta stood in the doorway of their daughter's room, entering with caution so she wouldn't wake her. But Benezia's shouting might have, so she needed to check. She stood over the crib, hands pressed against the rail. There was something amiss within her love's mind, she knew. But what that could be was something she would never know unless Benezia told her. Always thinking; she was always thinking. Her eyes looked down to the child; still too young enough to form these memories. Aethyta was glad for that. She watched her stirring lightly. "Did she call you from your dreams?" The Asari spoke lightly; gently. Not a tone or phrase she was known for. Something about the child tugged at all those feelings she never thought she might have. This child; of hers and her love's, would be special. She just knew it. She could feel it with every fibre of her being. Her hands reached out, taking hold of Liara with such ease and comfort, before bringing her against to her chest. Liara's face rested on her father's shoulder, her eyes barely opening enough to see Benezia framed in the doorway. The child's pink nose nuzzled closer to her father, eyes shut to try and settle further into the embrace.

"Aethyta." Benezia apologised.

"You're going to crush those little wings of hers if you're not careful." She said, and though her tone spun gentle notes throughout the room, this was only a cover for how she ached over her own worthless treatment.

"Something has happened. Today. They said I-" Benezia began to explain her actions, her voice bold with reason.

But Aethyta drew her back sharply. "Goddess, Benezia. Can't you lay off for a sec? I'm busy here. Or can't you see that anymore." Benezia caught sight of their daughter once more; with Aethyta refusing her glance, it had to rest somewhere. Liara's presence filled the air with a calming peace as she slept on the shoulder of her father. Aethyta had been rocking gently, back and forth, to provide a newfound sense of comfort that their daughter would never find resting in her crib. Benezia turned, leaving them alone for the moment.

Aethyta pulled Liara from her shoulder slowly, looking down at her daughter with a faint smile. The child stirred slightly, arms pushing forward within her slumber, as if to reach out for that warmth and heartbeat once again. "I'll see you soon," She began, and chuckled, "Don't be so damn needy." Aethyta whispered, before laying the child to rest. She took a moment, as she always did, to simply stare down at her, loosing herself in her own creation. She turned away, then, to leave the room, allowing the child to rest easy.

"What did the Matriarch's say now?" Aethyta sighed, as she exited the hallway to see Benezia standing before the window, watching the Thessia indulge in the ever changing colours as twilight set in around them. She stopped shy of her love, her weight shifting to her back leg as she crossed her arms in disappointment. She knew they would have stirred something big in Benezia to have her act this cold. True, as of late she had been distant, more distant than her usual times of delving deep into politics and world issues. But this was different. She was preparing herself for something.

"It was ridiculous. It is. Ridiculous." Benezia spoke, not game enough to turn to face the judgement within the eyes of her love. "They ask what we're fighting for, within the diplomat circle. I say what I always say, and what I believe. For Thessia. For the advancement of our civilisation. There's no use in keeping ourselves connected only to our own races. It would be like grounding ourselves to Thessia and never leaving the home world. I know we can build. We should."

"I know this, Nezzy." Aethyta replied, watching Benezia start on one of her trademark tangents and attempting to put her back on track. "They think there's nothing wrong with Thessia. We know they're stuck in the past. But there's more. What is it?"

"They're asking that I go to the Citadel."

"So go. I can handle things here while you're gone."

"I would take Liara with me." Benezia shot back carefully, and paused. Aethyta's eyes narrowed sharply on her. This was not how it normally went; Benezia knew when she needed to leave to handle situations. It was not something she would take their child for. She would normally go on her own, because the need to come home to her family was one of the things that drove her to work so hard. Benezia smiled so hopelessly, words falling from her lips in a strange, almost incoherent explanation to her plan. "You aren't the type to be grounded. Not the one to settle down and raise children. Not my Aethyta."

"Don't push your diplomatic crap on me; you don't know what I want." She seethed, closing the distance between the two of them. Aethyta's hand jarred Benezia's shoulder, forcing their eyes to meet. But she stumbled back a step. "She doesn't deserve a life being carted from one place to another. You promised me you wouldn't leave Thessia. You said you wouldn't move away from here, that you wouldn't do that to her. That you didn't want to leave Armali because you wanted your damn daughter to have a good life. The Matriarch's are a giant sack of crap. You know that!"

"Aethyta-"

"No!" Her blood boiled at the mere thought of Benezia taking the child away from her. "This isn't about the damn Citadel. Don't push that crap on me. Don't you fucking lie to me!"

"Fine!" She called, and stopped herself. Benezia straightened herself out within those spare moments she had given herself. Her eyes finally connected with Aethyta, swapping a cool stare for Aethyta's burning glare. "I can't do this anymore, Aethyta. Not in the position I'm in."

"What position? The Matriarch lapdog?"

"That isn't fair."

"You'll do whatever they damn well ask you, because no one else will do it."

"I'm fighting for Thessia." She repeated, her hands curling in frustration. "For a better life for our child. The mess that they're in now... Life in a hundred years or so will not be what I want to give her." Benezia's tone was enough to tear into the heart of the strongest warriors; to break up their family over a diplomatic position.

"And you can do that without me." Aethyta stated, rather than opening it as a question. She knew all too well what Benezia meant. Being pinned down with a bondmate was a hindrance, not a blessing. At least, not anymore. "I can't believe-" She fired up and stepped out towards her; even her biotics would not remain in check. She started to shine, emitting that violet light that flagged worry in Benezia's mind. She watched her hands tighten into fists, teeth clenched together, revolting to such a primitive response to the loos of a child. Aethyta was not one to calm down when her abilities would get the better of her.

They stood there, amidst the lilac hues of Aethyta's strength. Insignificant objects rattled and lifted from their resting positions to fly above surfaces within the air. She breathed, the constructed world of her biotics dancing with each intake of breath. She could fight with every ounce of strength she had against her bondmate. She could fight for the preservation of this universe; their love and their life with their child in their home. Fight to revert to when things were better. When they were happy. But she did not. In those moments, it was not about that. Everything in Aethyta's world was about the fight, the pursuit of an insurmountable goal that could be destroyed if enough power was in possession.

Things fell from her world to their surfaces. The violet strength dissipated into the air. Her fingers recoiled to her sides. She breathed a heavy sigh and withdrew her glance from Benezia. "I'll go." She said, because there was nothing in this world worth taking away that girl's childhood. Demoting her to a life on the Citadel, just to get away from Aethyta was as selfish as it was stupid. She turned, moving slowly down the hallway.

"Where are you going?"

"At least give me the time to say goodbye." She spat.

And there, in the quiet room with the great view of their homeworld's skyline, was their daughter. Something was amiss with her. Awake, or barely so. Something had stirred her from her dreams once again, and as Aethyta closed in on her child, she knew it was not the shouting that had done so. Somewhere, in that special child, was the knowledge that their family had derailed. She knew, but she hoped her assumptions were not correct. Such heart ache was not what she deserved to grow up with. Aethyta reached out for the last time, hands connecting with her child. She went to lift her up, to hold her close and breathe in her scent. To recall the way her soft skin felt against her cheek. But she did not.

Liara's eyes had gone from being half opened to closed; the mere touch of her father being enough to soothe her back to slumber. She hesitated, pulling one hand away sharply. Liara shifted to curl further into the hand of her father. Aethyta smiled.

"I wouldn't want to wake you." She said quietly, leaning into the crib to press her lips upon her daughter's forehead. As she retracted, Aethyta took her hand away. Her eyes pressed closed tightly as she turned away, frozen in the moment until she could pull herself from falling to pieces long enough to look once more. "Liara." She whispered, and a barely audible sound came from the sleeping child as if she were to respond. She walked out of the room, down the hallway to see Benezia still standing in the same position.

Aethyta stopped at the door and turned, her hand rising as she pointed at her from across the room.

"You let her do what she pleases. Her life is not yours to run." She said coldly. She wouldn't do this otherwise.

"I don't want you to leave." Benezia damn near pleaded, maintaining her strength.

"You gave up that right to choose when you let the Matriarch's walk all over you." Once more, she seethed. But her frustration settled in the moment. "At least I know you'll look after her. Just don't break those little wings."

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading<strong>**; please let me know what you think.**


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